Book Overview: My life "treatise" - originally written on a typewriter in 1974-75. 1st three editions sold out. Describes the basis for how each piece gets its value and relates, in a very basic (but not for beginners) way how that relates to evaluating positions. Describes the basic elements that can be used for non-tactically evaluating a position. Not as many diagrams or examples as I would like because I didn't have the tools at that time to include them! Very unique for its time (and even now!). IM John Watson's award-winning new book, Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy, has many examples the ideas my Elements book discusses. The first edition (yellow) was the old text. The 2nd edition (pink) was made more conversational. The 3rd edition (Blue) added more diagrams and recent references. The fourth edition is nothing like the first three - it has tripled in size and has 100+ new diagrams/examples. Suggested Rating Range: 800-1800. Emails about Elements:

"Dan,...Your book, Elements of Positional Evaluation, was highly recommended to me several years ago by Mark Uniacke, the author of Hiarcs, in a discussion about some ideas I sent him. I have never seen a copy, so I look forward to the new edition. Best regards, Scott"

"I found the book Elements of Positional Evaluation very thought provoking and original in its quest for the essence of chess evaluation. A book that challenged the conceived chess wisdom and helped reveal a better understanding about how to evaluate chess positions. The book is useful for chess programmers as it helps explain what evaluation elements are important and in turn this leads to improved chess heuristics for positional evaluation. I am sure HIARCS benefited from the book and I thoroughly recommend it (although not to my competitors!)." - Mark Uniake, programmer ofHIARCS chess engine."

"Dear Dan, Last Saturday, two friends of mine and myself were introducing my wife to chess. She had never touched a chess piece before. At a certain moment during the opening, I wanted to explain her why a certain pawn-move wouldn’t be very clever. Before I could say that such a move would hem in her bishop, she said to me: “No, you shouldn’t make such a silly move, because you reduce your bishop’s mobility!”. Now, I am accusing her of reading “Elements”! Kind regards, Tom"

"...be delighted to boost your masterpiece of a book on Amazon" - Paul

Note: See a new addition to the theory of this book at the end of the Novice Nook "The 10 Biggest Roadblocks to Improvement" (#23)